Assisted by children at the home, sculptor Laith al-Amiri erected a brown replica of one of the shoes hurled at Bush and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by journalist Muntadhir al-Zaidi during a press conference in Baghdad.
The shoe monument, made of fiberglass and coated with copper, consists of the shoe and a concrete base. The entire monument is 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) high. The shoe is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide.
The orphans helped al-Amiri build the $5,000 structure -- unveiled Tuesday -- in 15 days, said Faten Abdulqader al-Naseri, the orphanage director.
"Those orphans who helped the sculptor in building this monument were the victims of Bush's war," al-Naseri said. "The shoe monument is a gift to the next generation to remember the heroic action by the journalist."
"When the next generation sees the shoe monument, they will ask their parents about it," al-Naseri said.
"Then their parents will start talking about the hero Muntadhir al-Zaidi, who threw his shoe at George W. Bush during his unannounced farewell visit."
By tradition, throwing a shoe is the most insulting act in the Arab world.
UPDATE 1/31/09
Iraq shoe sculpture is removed
The director of an orphanage in Iraq said the shoe sculpture set up to honour the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush has been removed.
Fatin al-Nassiri said Iraqi police told her the statue had to be removed because government property should not be used for something with a political bias.
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